Small-Business-Innovation--and-Entrepreneurship

1“SmallBusiness,Innovation,andEntrepreneurship”GuestEditors’IntroductionbyJean-MichelSahutandMartaPeris-OrtizAbstract.Thepurposeofthisspecialissueistoexaminesmallbusinesses,innovationandentrepreneurshipandshowthatalthoughthesethreeconceptshavetheirownspecificliteratureandcanbedealtwithindependently,theyarecloselyrelated.FromSchumpetertothepresent,astreamofliteratureunitestheconceptofentrepreneurshipwithitsabilitytomakenewcombinationsoffactorsandcorrespondinginnovationsinprocessesandproducts;similarly,inabroadstreamofliteraturethemostcharacteristicdimensionofentrepreneurshipiscloselylinkedtosmallbusinesses.Smallandlargecompanieshavedifferentadvantagesanddrawbackswithinnovation,butsmallbusinessesprovidethemostconduciveenvironmentforentrepreneurshipandinnovationthatarenotnecessarilysustainedbytheknow-howandresourcescharacteristicoflargescaleproductionbutrequirecommitmentandclosecooperationbetweencompanymembers.Inthisintroductionweshowhowthethreetopicsconvergeinfourarticlesdealingwithmicrostart-upsandinnovation,institutionaldeterminantsofentrepreneurshipanddeterminingfactorsinentrepreneurs’individualcharacteristics.Keywords:smallbusiness,innovation,entrepreneurship,opportunityrecognition.CodeJEL:M19IntroductionThethreemaintopicsthatguidethisspecialissue,“smallbusiness,innovationandentrepreneurship”,haverelevantacademic,socialandeconomicdimensionsandtheirownliteratureinthefieldsofsociology,psychology,economicsandmanagement.Inadditiontothespecificliteratureonthesetopicsineachfield,manyworksalsoreferjointlytoentrepreneurshipandinnovation,entrepreneurshipandsmallbusinesses,or,likethisspecialissue,theyrefertoentrepreneurship,innovationandsmallbusinesses.Itisalsooftenthecasethatwhenoneparticularresearchstreamorstudyrefersexplicitlytoonlyoneofthesetopics,oneoftheothertwoorboth,underlieorareimplicitintheobjectofstudy.Relationshipsbetweenentrepreneurship,innovationandenterprisesarepresentrightfromthestartoftheentrepreneurialliteratureinSchumpeter’s(1934,1950)work.2AccordingtoSchumpeter(1934:66-68),asentrepreneursmakenewcombinationsoffactors“andthenewcombinationsappeardiscontinuously”,innovationandeconomicdevelopmentcanbecarriedoutby“thesamepeoplewhocontroltheproductiveorcommercialprocess(intheenterprise)”orby“thenew(innovatorpeople)”thatgenerally,inanewventureorstart-upsmallenterprise,achievenewcombinationsorinnovations.1Shane(2012:17-18)implicitlyincludesinnovationasanessentialcharacteristicofentrepreneurshipandclaimsthat“[e]ntrepreneurshipinvolvesmorethanthe(…)processofdiscoveringopportunitiesforprofit.Italsoinvolvescomingupwithabusinessideaabouthowtorecombineresourcestoexploitthoseopportunities”.Furthermoretheresearchareaofeconomicentrepreneurship(ShaneandVenkataraman,2000:218)hasbeenestablishedas“thestudyofsourcesofopportunities;theprocessesofdiscovery,evaluation,andexploitationofopportunities;andthesetofindividualswhodiscover,evaluate,andexploitthem”(ShaneandVenkataraman,2000:218).Theseauthorsrefertoentrepreneurialopportunitiesas“thosesituationsinwhichnewgoods,services,rawmaterials,andorganizingmethodscanbeintroducedandsoldatgreaterthantheircostofproduction”(Ibid.:220);andsituationsthatareformedby“objectiveforcesininfluencingtheexistence,identification,andexploitationofopportunities”(Shane,2012:16).Theseobjectiveforcescorrespondtotheeconomicenvironmentandinstitutionalenvironmentreferredtobelow.Thesecondpartofthedefinition,“theprocessesofdiscovery,evaluation,andexploitationofopportunities”,involvestheindividualaspects(personalitytraitsandpsychologicalcharacteristics)ofentrepreneursthatcanexplaintheirabilitytodiscoveropportunitiesandexploitthemsuccessfully(BaumandBird,2010;Baron,2004;NgaandShamuganathan,2010).Aspectscorrespondingtothecorporateentrepreneur,liketheexploitationofopportunitymustbeorganizedbythecorrespondingcombinationoffactors(Hayton,2005,2006;ZottoandGustafsson,2008),withreferencetotheenterprise.Thisseconddimensionofcorporateentrepreneurship,mayalsoinverttherelationshipopportunityrecognition-exploitationoftheopportunity.Opportunity,insomerelevantcasescanbecreatedthroughtheprocessbywhichnewcombinationsoffactorsarecreated.Thus,thearticleonvolitionandcareerchoicesinthisspecialissuehelpsustounderstandhowsomepeoplebecomeentrepreneurs.1Paréntesisnuestros.3Finally,thethirdpartofthedefinitionemphasisestheimportanceoftheindividualastheengineofentrepreneurialaction:“thecoreideathatentrepreneurshipisaprocessthatdependsonbothopportunitiesandindividuals”(Shane,2012:18).Thisaspect,whichisimplicitinthefirstpartofthedefinition,clearlydistinguishesthefieldofentrepreneurshipfromthatofstrategicmanagement,althoughthecontributionsofclassicalauthorsonstrategicmanagementlikeAndrews(1971)areusefulforbothfields.Thereis,however,aninstitutionaldimensiontotheissueoftheopportunitiesthatentrepreneursmustdiscoverandmakeuseof,whichmustbeincluded.ItisnotonlytheeconomicenvironmentthatconditionstheopportunitiesasShane(2012)emphasizes.Inadditiontotheeconomicenvironmenttheexistenceofinformalandformalinstitutionalconditions(cultureandlegalf